A business’ registered agent (RA) is the official contact for receiving important documents—a summons, subpoena, or registration renewal. While every state requires a business to have a registered agent, regulations may differ. Several states allow the business to be its own RA, but others don’t. If you’d like to hire a company to serve as your registered agent, it will cost around $100 to $250 per year.
What Does a Registered Agent Do?
Registered agent responsibilities include serving as the official contact to receive legal documents. If your business gets sued, the lawsuit won’t begin until the summons is officially delivered in person. Because of the in-person requirement, the state requires all businesses to have a contact available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If your Secretary of State’s office is unable to find someone at your location, you may face consequences such as loss of business registration or a fine.
Another responsibility of the registered agent is to be your contact for state correspondence, such as business registration renewal. All states require LLCs and corporations to renew and pay a fee every year to be registered in that state. The state will reach out to you when it’s time to renew.
Suppose your mail gets misplaced and you don’t re-register until after your renewal date. In that case, you will owe a fine or, if you wait too long, lose your legal entity status with the state.
It’s also important to note that depending on the state you’re doing business in, a registered agent may go by a different name. Other names include:
- Statutory agent
- Resident agent
- Agent for service of process
It’s always best to check with your state’s official business registration website to get your registered agent’s specific requirements. For example, Virginia requires the RA to be a member of the State Bar or a member of the business entity’s management—it cannot be the business itself or a family member not in the business. A registered agent in Virginia must also be a resident of the state and have a physical business address or registered office there.
Can You Be Your Own Registered Agent?
You may be considering making yourself your own registered agent. Doing this would save you at least $100 a year. If allowed in your state, the requirements to be your own registered agent are reasonably straightforward:
- Resident individual: You must be a resident of the state where your business entity is registered or incorporated in.
- Physical address: You must have a physical address within your state of incorporation. A P.O. box does not qualify as an in-state address. Some states require you to designate a “registered office” in addition to naming a registered agent.
- Normal business hours: You or someone in your company must be available to accept mail and other documents on your behalf during “normal” business hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
However, even if you meet the above qualifications to be your own registered agent, there are several downsides to being your own RA:
- Receive junk mail: Many companies send promotional offers to your public-facing registered agent address. If you work from your home, you may not want this mail to be delivered to your home.
- Served legal documents at your office: If you have customers or employees in your office, you may not want to be served a legal notice in front of them.
- Need to be in the office: Being your own RA means you need to be in your office (or home) during normal business hours. This makes things harder if you are running a business where you need to move around a lot, attend client meetings, or perform site inspections.
- May miss correspondence: If you receive a business renewal notice or tax notice and you miss the communication, you may face consequences such as a fine.
If the downsides above make you think twice about being your own RA, you may be interested in hiring a company to be your registered agent, which is called a registered agent service. Online legal services—which can assist you with functions such as business registration, obtaining permits, and legal consultation—often provide registered agent services as well.
What if I’m Doing Business in More Than One State?
If you are conducting business in more than one state, you’ll need a registered agent for each of those states. This can get complicated, as it may involve managing forms and submissions for every Secretary of State. You’ll also need to stay on top of any particular RA requirements that each state has, and you’ll need to set up a centralized communication system for each RA you hire so that nothing falls through the cracks.
Additionally, note that you yourself cannot be the registered agent for an LLC in multiple states, because of RA residency requirements. This makes hiring a good registered agent or online legal service all the more critical—so that you won’t need to hire multiple individuals yourself, and also so that the service can perform all necessary RA duties for you even when your business operates in more than one state. (We’ll cover specific RA and legal service options below.)
What Does a Registered Agent Service Do?
A registered agent service is a company that serves as your contact with the Secretary of State. They will receive your legal, tax, and state notification-related mail and forward it to you electronically. The RA service will also accept your junk mail and throw it away for you. Typically, a registered agent service will cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per year.
If you employ a registered agent service, you’ll get:
- Physical office: The service will provide a physical address at which your business can receive documents. Some legal documents are required to be delivered to a physical address and cannot be sent to a P.O. box, so the RA service works well for this purpose.
- Mail forwarding: A registered agent can ensure that critical mail is delivered even when you change locations.
- Privacy protection: Registered agents ensure that information, such as your home address, is protected and reduces the risk of potentially embarrassing situations, like being served a summons while you are in front of potential clients or neighbors.
- Compliance monitoring: Registered agents help to ensure that you file documents within legal deadlines and requirements.
- Document organization: A registered agent can also help you keep track of your filings and stay organized.
Pros & Cons of Hiring a Registered Agent
Hiring a registered agent (as opposed to acting as your own RA) generally offers more benefits than drawbacks, especially for a new small business with a lot of other setup concerns. Here are the upsides and downsides of hiring an agent service:
Pros of a Registered Agent Service
The pros of hiring a registered agent service include:
- Reliability: Hiring a third-party registered agent service means your business will always receive essential documents in a timely fashion.
- Privacy: RA services are a great option if you work from home or have other reasons for not making your contact information public. Having a registered agent to receive service of legal process documents can also eliminate the risk of embarrassing interactions, like getting served a summons in front of potential clients.
- Flexibility: A registered agent service can allow you to operate a business in a state where you do not have a physical address during normal business hours. This flexibility is helpful for businesses that are primarily online or that travel around, like a food truck.
- Peace of mind: Think of a registered agent service as an assistant to whom you can delegate certain tedious (but necessary) tasks so that you can focus on higher-level matters such as finding new clients and growing your business. An RA service can take care of many mundane to-dos so that you don’t have to.
Cons of Registered Agent Services
The cons of hiring a registered agent service include:
- Expense: Hiring a registered agent service costs more than doing it yourself or having a friend or family member serve as your agent. (Although it’s worth considering that if you take on RA duties yourself, you will save money but end up paying in terms of time, energy, and attention.)
- Additional paperwork: Using a statutory agent service requires you to sign up and pay for a service.
Where to Find a Registered Agent Service
There are dozens of companies available that will serve as your registered agent. One of the factors to keep in mind when selecting an RA is fees. You may find companies that offer RA services free or at a low cost. However, before signing up for a cheap RA service, make sure you clarify whether they charge fees for services like document forwarding or second-year renewal.
Here are a few reliable, affordable registered agent companies that we recommend:
Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest Registered Agent primarily offers RA-based services. It specializes in making sure your business information is private and secure. If they can put their address on a form or submit a simple document on your behalf, they will. They can also set up a domain name, website, and email and phone contact details for your business. For its registered agent services, Northwest costs $125 per year.
Visit Northwest Registered Agent
Bizee
If you’re looking to register your business as a legal entity in addition to getting an RA service, Bizee is your best deal. It provides free business registration for LLCs or corporations; you’ll only need to pay your state’s registration fee. If you register via Bizee, you’ll get your first year of registered agent services for free. After your first year, Bizee’s RA services are $119 per year. Bizee collects all legal correspondence and documentation sent to your business and uploads these to a digital dashboard that you can view. They’ll even send you text and email notifications whenever they receive documents for you.
Rocket Lawyer
What makes Rocket Lawyer unique is its monthly membership for ongoing legal services. If you have multiple legal steps to take to start your business, such as customizing legal documents or answering specific legal questions, consider using Rocket Lawyer as your RA. The standard price for a registered agent with Rocket Lawyer is $249.99 per year. However, if you sign up for the RocketLegal+ membership at $19.99 per month (billed annually), you’ll save 50% per year on your RA as well as various other services.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Click through the sections below to learn more about who can be a registered agent, plus how to assess a potential RA hire.
Registered agent requirements vary by state, but it generally must be a person 18 years or older with a physical address in the LLC filing state. Your RA must be available at that address during normal business hours. You can hire a registered agent service or identify a friend or family member who meets the requirements.
If you’re starting your business on a budget, you may be tempted to assign yourself the role of registered agent for your business. Before you do this make sure that you or someone in your company will be available in the office during normal business hours. Also remember that except for a few states, you may not name your LLC as its own registered agent.
The organizer of an LLC can be the RA if they have a physical address within the state, and someone can accept mail at that address during normal business hours. We recommend hiring a registered agent service to prevent lost mail, inconsistent business hours, or other issues that might result in a failed delivery.
A UPS store cannot be a registered agent. Registered agents must have a physical address in the state where your business is organized. Additionally, someone must be available to accept mail during regular business hours. Because of these requirements, a P.O. box or rented box at a UPS store isn’t an acceptable registered agent.
If you’re hiring a reputable RA service, they will have already vetted their individual agents for quality and reliability. If you’re hiring an individual RA yourself, look for expertise and experience with legal requirements, documents, and procedures that the role will require. You will also need to ensure that the individual is available to perform RA duties during regular business days and hours, at the very least.
If your business is an LLC or corporation, you are required by law to employ a registered agent. If you fail to do so, your business will face fines, penalties, and possibly even dissolution. You will also run a greater risk of not receiving or seeing critical legal documents or notices, as well as losing good standing with your state government.
Bottom Line
You likely can serve as your own registered agent if you feel confident that mail won’t get misplaced, and you’re available in an office during normal business hours. If you’re frequently traveling, don’t want junk mail, or are doing business in several states, consider using a registered agent service. The $100 to $250 fee per year for an RA service will provide you with peace of mind and keep you on top of important legal and state matters.
